Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Weekend. I had an extra long weekend taking Friday off. We spent the morning at Little Gym, road bikes in the park, played at the park, lunched with Whit, quilted with Ann. What better way to start off my weekend?

The previous weekend we decided at 6pm on Sunday night to convert Sam's room into a playroom. He has refused to sleep in his crib recently, so why have a room devoted to his crib? We spent the last week or so, looking for bunk beds and bedding. On Saturday the beds were deliveried and the transformation began. We spent the better part of the weekend putting together furniture, rearranging rooms, decorating, and cleaning. Although not the most fun way to spend a holiday weekend - it is like a weight has been lifted and I'm so excited to be able to see the floor in Jake's room again. It was being overrun with toys! It is so nice to have the playroom and the boys room seperated. I'm not ready yet to let Jake sleep on the top bunk, but its been fun watching the boys get up there and play. Yesterday Mike made a fort for them throwing a blanket over the opening to the bottom bunk. Hours of enjoyment.

I also spent the weekend sewing. Til 2am! I'm working on a custom quilt order for a graduation present and I'm so excited with how it is looking. A mixture of t-shirts, blues, greens, and white. It is turning out really cute. I hope my client likes it. My goal is to get the borders on it tonight - quilt it tomorrow - bind it on Thursday and have it ready for pick up on Friday. Hopefully the kids will cooperate!

I've also been working on a little Moda Bake Shop project and a Bliss zig zag project. When I saw the Bliss quilt I knew I had to have one. How to people come up with such cute ideas?

I have lots of pictures to share - just need to get them downloaded. Be back soon!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Ever had one of those days? Yesterday was a rough day .... I feel a pattern here.

I work from home on Thursdays - and it is turning out to be a challenge. Sam had recently decided he doesn't like his crib. As in SCREAMING hysterically anytime you walk into his room when its close to nap time or bed time. If I lay him in his crib with his bottle and blankets he starts screaming and throws everything out of the crib. I leave him to cry it out - yet he doesn't ever stop crying. HOURS could pass. HOURs I tell you! He gets louder with time - he never lays down to fall asleep. Just stands there screaming.

Anyways - yesterday in an effort to get him to sleep so I could get some work done we went for a ride. My thoughts were to run a quick errand and hit the quilt store. I need a bella solid white charm pack. So we drove out to Material Girls - they didn't have any - so I continued onward to Pine Needles at Gardner Village. All the while - Sam was WIDE AWAKE in the back seat. Mind you - I was in sweats - Jake was dressed, but had chocolate all over his sleeves (he uses his sleeves as a napkin) and Sam was in his pjs and no shoes. (We don't get dressed on Thursdays). I was thinking by the time I got to Pine Needles he'd be sound asleep - I already had the charm packs on hold - I could pull right up front, run in and buy them leaving the kids in the car. Which of course didn't happen. Jake had to pee, Sam was wide awake - so we all hit the village running. I'm sure people looked at me like I was an unfit mother. Kids not dressed, no shoes for Sam, no makeup for mom...it was a pretty picture.

I got the charm packs, got the kids in the car and sat there thinking - I need to start drinking. The liquor store was going to be my next stop. What else can a mom do? I'm overwhelmed with mothering the kids, cleaning my house (or not cleaning my house in my case), clothes piling up to be folded, a full time job, a quilting job on the side, and actually taking a minute for me? (which I'm using to blog instead of sew). I mean drinking has got to be my only alternative right? So the quilt store and the liquor store...it was going to be my next stop. We drove around the parking lot and I saw the bakery....cookies, eclairs - oh a coke in a can.... so I ran in and loaded up (do you think I'm an emotional eater??? ummmm something to think about). I had a coke and an eclair. Jake and Sam had some honey boys, I even picked up a maple bar for Mike. We were all happy - so I guess I could forget about the liquor store. My need for coke and eclairs saved me from becoming a drunken mom. Who knew emotional eating could save us all?

BTW - Jake fell asleep on the way home - SAM not so much....HELP ME!!!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

My friend Talia sent this over to me in an email this week and couldn't believe what a nerve it hit in me. Its been a rough few weeks/months trying to balance out life and this rang so true. I had to share it.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see
I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.
The invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.' Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting
there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and
said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building
when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are
you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Its been a rough week. Vegas turned into a nightmare with both kids getting sick! Once we got home Mike and I both got sick. Last week was spent getting past this horrible flu - and passing it along to anyone who walked into our house -- sorry bout that.

In an effort to get back into the swing of things - I've put together a menu for this week. My mother-in-law who has an addiction to the ipad found a great Betty Crocker recipe app. I used it this week to make Sunday dinner. It was delicious. Thanks Sharon for sharing!

I have to say in the cooking department I've been overly active this week. I've also made homemake applesauce and this morning we had scrambled eggs w/cheese, bacon, strawberries, and freshly squeezed orange/grapefruit/kiwi juice with a little spinach thrown in for some veggies. My goal is to use up what I have at home without having to spend so much at the grocery store - so I'm trying to use things up before they go bad. We'll see how long it lasts!

Friday, May 6, 2011

- A packed car full of food, sewing machines, and a few clothes
- Two ipads to make the world a better place
- Bubble Guppies playing again and again and again
- A little light screaming from Sam (for an HOUR)
- Walmart stop at 10pm to buy Benedryl to ease the light screaming from Sam
- Arcades and rides all to ourselves - boys are in heaven (all 3 of them)
- Bottle of milk, pillow for Jake = QUIET from Cedar to Vegas
- PURE HEAVEN

Do people with small children normally drive 6 hours at once? May need to rethink a planned road trip to California this summer....First road trip with Sam - glad we are here and trying not to dwell on the fact that we have to make the same drive home.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Not the picture you expected to see with the Mother's Day Love title, right? I am hoping this little package of pretties finds a home with me this weekend!

As for my real Mother's Day weekend - it started off with the cutest little card, from my little guy Jake.

It will be ending with a quick trip down to Vegas. Can you say lay out (right with 2 little ones), sun, shopping (again, right with 2 little ones) and maybe a little sewing...

Vegas with two little boys doesn't sound like the most fun - but 96 degree weather sure does! I've been working, and working, and working the past 2 months which has caused me to ignore my kids, my husband, my sewing, loose my mind, and nearly drive me crazy! A little R&R is much needed - even if it is in Vegas with 2 crazy little guys. Will send updates along the way.